The New Mexico Museum of Space History announced on April 6 that it will host a free public presentation titled “Astronomical Associations of the Creekside Village Great Kiva and the Agricultural Cycle” on Sunday, April 12 at 2:30 p.m. in the New Horizons Dome Theater. The event is part of the museum’s annual Archaeoastronomy outreach program and will include a question-and-answer session.
Archaeologist David H. Greenwald, President and Director of Jornada Research Institute, will lead the presentation. According to Greenwald, “Between the physical archaeological remains and the implications from these remains, Creekside Village may be one of the most important sites of this time period yet studied in New Mexico. The information we continue to gather is astounding.” He will demonstrate how the great kiva at Creekside Village in Tularosa Canyon functioned as an astronomical observatory and horizon calendar. Greenwald said he will show how specific celestial events, including solstices and key lunar positions, were tracked to guide agricultural activities—a practice that continues among Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, and other Pueblo peoples.
Greenwald has spent five decades researching Southwestern archaeology with a focus on groups such as Hohokam, Basketmaker, and Pueblo in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. After relocating to Tularosa in 1997, he founded Jornada Research Institute in 2012 to investigate prehistory and history in the Tularosa Basin area. His research centers on permanent settlements and agriculture rather than hunter-gatherer lifestyles.
In 2004, Greenwald discovered Creekside Village in Tularosa Canyon. Initial findings suggested a complex site from the Mesilla phase (AD 200–1000), leading to further investigations by Jornada Research Institute that revealed dispersed pithouse villages with great kivas—some used as celestial observatories—along with irrigation systems similar to those found among Hohokam communities but on a smaller scale. Through continued research led by Greenwald’s team at Jornada Research Institute, it was determined that the great kiva was used for monitoring sun and moon movements tied directly to agricultural cycles.
The collaborative event is included with regular museum admission; seating is first-come, first-served at the New Horizons Dome Theater. The New Mexico Museum of Space History is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs—a department that administers one of the nation’s largest state museum systems featuring multiple locations across New Mexico including history museums, folk art museums, heritage sites and more according to its official website. The department employs approximately 500 staff members supported by about 1,000 volunteers contributing roughly 70,000 hours annually according to its official website.
The department aims to preserve and celebrate cultural diversity through management of arts programs; museums; historic sites; libraries; archaeology; cultural resources; operates under direction from a Cabinet Secretary appointed by the Governor overseeing fifteen divisions including museums/historic sites/administrative services; extends its programs statewide serving residents/visitors across New Mexico; offers services such as exhibitions/access/preservation/library resources/grants/public education—all according to its official website. More details about this event are available through the organization’s press release.
